'34 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



action of the liquid Bordeaux is continued 

 for some time in the presence of the Hme, 

 water, and carbonic acid of the air with the 

 continued formation of copper compounds 

 poisonoivs to fungous spores, and in some 

 conditions poisonous to the plant itself. 

 There is a growing tendency to reduce the 

 quantity of lime in the making of Bordeaux, 

 so as make the solution just about neutral. 

 This is all right for ornamentals, and for 

 orchard trees in dry seasons, but in wet 

 weather the addition of extra lime is recom- 

 mended. 



Many growers state that they fail to get 

 good results with Bordeaux. The main 

 cause of failure lies in the quality of the 

 lime used, the manner of slaking the lime to 

 get the milk of lime, and the way the stock 

 solutions are mixed in the spray tank or 

 barrel. (i) The lime should be fresh and 

 firm. (2) Only small amounts of water 

 should be added to the lime in slaking. If 

 too much water is added many small lumps 

 will remain unslaked. When the lime is 

 fully slaked considerable water should be 

 added slowly while the whole is being 

 stirred. (3) When the Bordeaux is being 



prepared from the stock solutions, the bar- 

 rel of milk of lime should be thoroughly 

 stirred, and the milk of lime — a thin whitt 

 wash — emptied through a strainer into the 

 spray tank. It is very essential that the 

 concentrated stock solutions should not be 

 mixed except in the presence of a large 

 quantity of water. 



It is advisable to use the 3-3-40 Bordeaux 

 formula on Japan plums and peach trees on 

 account of the tender nature of the foliage 

 of these trees. 



In districts where the Hme-sulphur wash 

 is not used on account of the absence of the 

 San Jose scale, Bordeaux should be applied 

 to prevent leaf-curl of the peach. It has 

 been proven pretty conclusively that if a 

 thorough application be made, a week or 

 so before the flower buds open, the leaf-curl 

 will be practically absent from peach or- 

 chards treated in this manner. 



For the prevention of the black rot of 

 grapes the first application of Bordeaux 

 need not be made until the young shoots are 

 T2 to 18 inches in length. The second ap- 

 plication should be given immediately after 

 blossoming, about the first week in Tulv. 



THE CORLESS APPLE EXCITEMENT 



PROF. JOHN- CRAIG, CORNELL' UNIVERSITY, ITHACA, N. Y. 



THE excitement over coreless apples has 

 reached quite an acute stage. Royalty 

 has become involved. King Edward is an 

 ■honorary patron. The apple which started 

 out as a seedless form has, in six months, 

 travelling through various types of advertis- 

 ing media, reached the throne of England, 

 leaving its core somewhere en route. 



The whole story of this wonderful crea- 

 tion savors of quackery, and I am inclined 

 to lose patience with horticultural journals 

 which oflFer their columns to the exploiting 

 of an absolutely unknown plant production 

 in this generous, free and decidedly unso- 

 phisticated manner. Can it be that horti- 

 cnltnral ionrnals are becoiT'ino' inn'^rht":] 



with the germ which develops a craving for 

 sensationalism? Are they imitating thi- 

 yellow hue of some of their strictly news- 

 dealing contemporaries ? 



This introduction — invention it was first 

 called in the associated press dispatch — has 

 been advertised with more than ordinary 

 skill. The seedless enterprise is being 

 pushed by shrewd business men who ar^' 

 taking advantage of the avidity of news- 

 papers for something novel and the credence 

 and desire of the public for something dif- 

 ferent. I am not surprised that a paper 

 like the Scientific American should be drawn 

 into the net. because that is quite outside of 

 its scope and purview, but T am astonished 



